School Once Attended By Thurgood Marshall Goes Up In Flames

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City firefighters have their hands full, spending much of Wednesday battling a stubborn three-alarm fire in a historic building.

WJZ's Amy Yensi with more on the raging inferno.

WJZ cameras were rolling, as the roof came crashing down. Sky Eye Chopper 13 caught aerial views of the raging fire as it consumed 1315 Division Street.

"Smoky. You couldn't hardly see," said James Palmer.

Officials say the call came in at around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. By 1 p.m., it had jumped to three-alarms.

Seventy-five firefighters did all they could to dampen the smoke rushing from the structure.

"The fire seems to have traveled up the walls and through the roof. So, as you can see from the actual structure, the roof has caved in," said Sam Johnson, Baltimore City Fire Department.

A big part of the problem for fire crews was that the windows were boarded up with bricks. That kept the water and ventilation out.

"I was up at North and Penn and I saw the smoke all the way up there," one man said.

The building had been vacant for a while, but was once PS 103, the school where Thurgood Marshall -- the first African-American Supreme Court justice -- studied.

Recently, the city invested money and resources into stabilizing the building. Now, its historic significance is covered in ashes and rubble.

"We've been working to try to transform this community," said Donna Matthews.

There was no one inside the building at the time. No firefighters or civilians were hurt.

The city had plans to turn the building into a national landmark. Those plans are now on hold.

The fire was contained to just the one building. The cause is still being investigated.